Is Trudeau for real? Does light really shine on him like a halo? It’s all about him. He has lost touch so badly I am concerned about his lack of perspective and his possibly fragile mental health.
I am anxious to see change and to see Trudeau leave office. I have not bonded with Poilievre. My distaste for and distrust of Trudeau was built with each dishonest statement, with each scandal, with each ethical breach, with each poor judgment and inappropriate choice of people to hire, give funds to, and support.
The ultimate for me are the Chinese influence issues, secrecy, receipt of money, denial of information received or compromised candidate supported and failure to disclose names of compromised MPs and staff.
High Immigration levels and the resultant denial to them of housing, education, translation services, not to mention the warm Canadian welcome normally given when newcomers arrive in smaller amounts are also annoyances.
Trudeau does not ever acknowledge the details of citizen revulsion of him. He only knows they are crabby, not why they are.
Well said. For me, the final straw was when he decided to play wedge politics to the point that he "othered" his own citizens. That was just it. I couldn't even listen to him anymore.
PM Trudeau appears (perhaps conveniently) to have forgotten the vision he presented in 2015. It was not the Environment to the exclusion of all else. It was about transparency, no more first past the post, and over 300 other future initiatives which have been abandoned altogether or only half attempted. His performance is the problem not his popularity. He accuses his opponents of his most critical problems, a great offensive tactic to divert scrutiny from your own performance. He has had his opportunity for change and history will note his fame perhaps much more accurately than I could ever detail here. It is time to let some other team play on the field
I thought his 2015 campaign was brilliant but, as an Ontario resident during the McGuinty-Wynne years, I wondered if it was real and put my vote elsewhere. If he had followed through on those campaign promises I think he would have been well respected.
I respect your view but I though he was an idiot right from the beginning. But then I was full-on Harper. When he immediately paid out Omar Kadr, got rid of the Indian accountability act, changed visa requirements and so many others, I could not believe the arrogance of this guy. That he was the son of a former PM was not a plus. He's a rich kid with a huge pinch of megalomania and although I have a soft heart for those who struggle with mental illness, he's just done so much harm to my country I just can't view him with anything but revulsion.
Again Paul you are addressing what is mulling about in our heads. That PM Justin Trudeau does not step down is absolutely baffling. Often a political leader in a parliamentary system steps down when faced with the reality that he or she has lost the support of the people; however, not PM Justin Trudeau. He appears to be completely delusional and unable to accept that the gild has left his lily. Instead he remains pumped up on his own perceived sense of self-importance. Rather concerning, actually.
It is remarkable how, in characterizing the next election, he describes what it’s like to run against himself. The lack of self awareness is breathtaking.
Thank you for writing about this. I tried to watch it but couldn't set aside my visceral dislike of Trudeau. Reading it let me digest what was said. So thanks Paul!
Well done, Paul. Unbiased and incisive clarity on the content and the context of the topic, which in this case is the declining fortunes of an increasingly oblivious political leader. As always: a great read.
Trudeau is done end, of story. Climate change hysteria is done, end of story. Poilievre is the future. The polls won’t be denied. 2025 can’t come soon enough, unless the Bloc. decide otherwise. But interesting thoughts, Paul.
If Trudeau has such great instincts about what is the right thing to do, why does his government make a mess of every file it touches. The guy is delusional.
I'm fond of saying he's Trump with abs, a smile, and great hair... Pretty sure this will work for PP for anyone who wants to attack the other side - maybe not the hair though. I'm fairly agnostic and don't really like either politician.
9 years into Justinmania, I now wish he sought therapy over politics to deal with his feelings of inadequacy measuring up to his father's influence. I've read so many articles or interviews where Justin highlights this chip on his shoulders about not being taken seriously or trying to dispel his doubters. He was born on third base! He had financial, educational and political access unmatched by most citizens, yet he can't see it nor come to terms with it.
Regarding his overt emphasis on the values he represent, I fear they are increasingly part and parcel to besetting his father's lack of a fourth term. Our country deserves better.
Thank you for listening to this nonsense so we don’t have to. Just a breathtaking lack of self-awareness.
It is hard to find any file on which Canada has measurably improved in the last 5 years, and on the file Mr. Trudeau has chosen as his signature, the environment, this government is all talk. The signature policy, the carbon tax, has not produced the desired result. We continue to spew carbon, with barely a dent in total emissions. Yet Trudeau seems to think if he keeps talking about how righteous it is, people will vote Liberal so they can signal what a privilege it is to pay this tax. And beyond that, his main pitch really seems to be: “Vote Liberal because we have better vibes. Remember how great our vibes were in 2015?”
I’m sure someone could write a political science thesis on how dumb the carbon tax policy and public debate is. I would bet most people opposed are wrong about how much it actually costs them, and are ignorant of the big rebates they receive, just as we all seem to be ignorant of what if any effect it has had on its stated goal. But the Liberals have made it so easy for Poilievre to blame it for the rising costs of everything, because they keep saying how great it is and drawing attention to it.
Paul Wells, you've raised constructive points or questions. i.e. "Know your enemy" and "do Canadians believe Trudeau is an "effective" leader? We get lots of cynicism from many sources but I like the surgical questions much better.
I wish I believed Canada is failing on its environmental commitments because we are large and cold, rather than the government is increasingly unable to deliver on the tough stuff. But who offers a progressive approach with the ability to deliver?
This is what we need. US centre-left writers are focusing on this too. State Capacity Liberalism it’s sometimes called. Big-government ideas don’t work if we can’t actually _get stuff done and built_. I think YIMBYism is very related to this philosophy too.
If he was so concerned about the environment then he should have got off his ass in 2015 and started the road to HFR or (gasp) HSR from Montreal to Toronto. Getting cars off the road and planes out of the air would go a long way to helping curb GHG expansion.
There is so much more but that is the first one that jumps out at me.
Oh come on. Promoting crypto was at the time he said it a going thing. Promoting crypto is not part of his plan going forward...that he understands what it is is a plus for me as I certainly don't. As for the rest of your list...pfft
He isn’t standing for tax cuts for the rich. Just because Trudeau says it’s so does not make it so. I would hope that the public would have realized this by now.
The rich have never been as rich as with this current government.
Okay I thought of one though I’m not sure how explicit he’s been about it. It sounds like he will do a more convincing job of correcting the over-influx of newcomers and, like correcting excessive inflation, that would be constructive.
He's got a point about nobody asking why Polievre is running. The most striking thing I've heard about Polievre is that he has no hobbies. Just politics. Fred de Lorey said that on one of those political panels, like it was something to admire. It really isn't.
If Liberals sound not disposed towards Polievre, maybe it has something to do with seeing him at work for the past 20-odd years. As have I, and I'm appalled to think of him as prime minister.
As far as what Trudeau said about nobody questioning his heart, or his priorities, I agree with that. That's exactly what people have said to me, that Trudeau has good intentions. And that's people who I don't expect to say good things about him. I really like what he said about knowing how someone will meet challenges as being, really, the only thing. (I haven't heard it yet, so I'm relying on the account). That is really true. Trudeau might be hated by many. But in the past few years, what I admire most is his ability to keep on keeping on. People take it for granted, but his ability to maintain equilibrium while he's being battered is really exceptional. It seems to be what some people really hate. But there you go.
Is Trudeau for real? Does light really shine on him like a halo? It’s all about him. He has lost touch so badly I am concerned about his lack of perspective and his possibly fragile mental health.
I am anxious to see change and to see Trudeau leave office. I have not bonded with Poilievre. My distaste for and distrust of Trudeau was built with each dishonest statement, with each scandal, with each ethical breach, with each poor judgment and inappropriate choice of people to hire, give funds to, and support.
The ultimate for me are the Chinese influence issues, secrecy, receipt of money, denial of information received or compromised candidate supported and failure to disclose names of compromised MPs and staff.
High Immigration levels and the resultant denial to them of housing, education, translation services, not to mention the warm Canadian welcome normally given when newcomers arrive in smaller amounts are also annoyances.
Trudeau does not ever acknowledge the details of citizen revulsion of him. He only knows they are crabby, not why they are.
Well said. For me, the final straw was when he decided to play wedge politics to the point that he "othered" his own citizens. That was just it. I couldn't even listen to him anymore.
Yup, that was my final straw as well.
PM Trudeau appears (perhaps conveniently) to have forgotten the vision he presented in 2015. It was not the Environment to the exclusion of all else. It was about transparency, no more first past the post, and over 300 other future initiatives which have been abandoned altogether or only half attempted. His performance is the problem not his popularity. He accuses his opponents of his most critical problems, a great offensive tactic to divert scrutiny from your own performance. He has had his opportunity for change and history will note his fame perhaps much more accurately than I could ever detail here. It is time to let some other team play on the field
I thought his 2015 campaign was brilliant but, as an Ontario resident during the McGuinty-Wynne years, I wondered if it was real and put my vote elsewhere. If he had followed through on those campaign promises I think he would have been well respected.
I respect your view but I though he was an idiot right from the beginning. But then I was full-on Harper. When he immediately paid out Omar Kadr, got rid of the Indian accountability act, changed visa requirements and so many others, I could not believe the arrogance of this guy. That he was the son of a former PM was not a plus. He's a rich kid with a huge pinch of megalomania and although I have a soft heart for those who struggle with mental illness, he's just done so much harm to my country I just can't view him with anything but revulsion.
Oh, I was disabused tout suite.
Somebody once post a link (https://anticommunistarchive.wordpress.com/lubor-zink/the-unpenetrated-problem-of-pierre-trudeau-1982/) to a 1982 article laying out Pierre's undiluted Marxism. It seems Justin learned his politics at his father's knee, and absorbed a lot of the campaign style ("Smile and lie, boys, smile and lie").
I’d forgotten about that. Ugh.
Again Paul you are addressing what is mulling about in our heads. That PM Justin Trudeau does not step down is absolutely baffling. Often a political leader in a parliamentary system steps down when faced with the reality that he or she has lost the support of the people; however, not PM Justin Trudeau. He appears to be completely delusional and unable to accept that the gild has left his lily. Instead he remains pumped up on his own perceived sense of self-importance. Rather concerning, actually.
The ego that walks like a man.
It is remarkable how, in characterizing the next election, he describes what it’s like to run against himself. The lack of self awareness is breathtaking.
Thank you for writing about this. I tried to watch it but couldn't set aside my visceral dislike of Trudeau. Reading it let me digest what was said. So thanks Paul!
Well done, Paul. Unbiased and incisive clarity on the content and the context of the topic, which in this case is the declining fortunes of an increasingly oblivious political leader. As always: a great read.
Trudeau is done end, of story. Climate change hysteria is done, end of story. Poilievre is the future. The polls won’t be denied. 2025 can’t come soon enough, unless the Bloc. decide otherwise. But interesting thoughts, Paul.
If Trudeau has such great instincts about what is the right thing to do, why does his government make a mess of every file it touches. The guy is delusional.
Wow. He’s almost as delusional as Trump.
It is amazing that more people have not realized that he is the mirror image of Trump, just with a nicer suit and smile.
I'm fond of saying he's Trump with abs, a smile, and great hair... Pretty sure this will work for PP for anyone who wants to attack the other side - maybe not the hair though. I'm fairly agnostic and don't really like either politician.
Yep. They’re two sides of the same coin.
9 years into Justinmania, I now wish he sought therapy over politics to deal with his feelings of inadequacy measuring up to his father's influence. I've read so many articles or interviews where Justin highlights this chip on his shoulders about not being taken seriously or trying to dispel his doubters. He was born on third base! He had financial, educational and political access unmatched by most citizens, yet he can't see it nor come to terms with it.
Regarding his overt emphasis on the values he represent, I fear they are increasingly part and parcel to besetting his father's lack of a fourth term. Our country deserves better.
Thank you for listening to this nonsense so we don’t have to. Just a breathtaking lack of self-awareness.
It is hard to find any file on which Canada has measurably improved in the last 5 years, and on the file Mr. Trudeau has chosen as his signature, the environment, this government is all talk. The signature policy, the carbon tax, has not produced the desired result. We continue to spew carbon, with barely a dent in total emissions. Yet Trudeau seems to think if he keeps talking about how righteous it is, people will vote Liberal so they can signal what a privilege it is to pay this tax. And beyond that, his main pitch really seems to be: “Vote Liberal because we have better vibes. Remember how great our vibes were in 2015?”
I’m sure someone could write a political science thesis on how dumb the carbon tax policy and public debate is. I would bet most people opposed are wrong about how much it actually costs them, and are ignorant of the big rebates they receive, just as we all seem to be ignorant of what if any effect it has had on its stated goal. But the Liberals have made it so easy for Poilievre to blame it for the rising costs of everything, because they keep saying how great it is and drawing attention to it.
Paul Wells, you've raised constructive points or questions. i.e. "Know your enemy" and "do Canadians believe Trudeau is an "effective" leader? We get lots of cynicism from many sources but I like the surgical questions much better.
I wish I believed Canada is failing on its environmental commitments because we are large and cold, rather than the government is increasingly unable to deliver on the tough stuff. But who offers a progressive approach with the ability to deliver?
This is what we need. US centre-left writers are focusing on this too. State Capacity Liberalism it’s sometimes called. Big-government ideas don’t work if we can’t actually _get stuff done and built_. I think YIMBYism is very related to this philosophy too.
If he was so concerned about the environment then he should have got off his ass in 2015 and started the road to HFR or (gasp) HSR from Montreal to Toronto. Getting cars off the road and planes out of the air would go a long way to helping curb GHG expansion.
There is so much more but that is the first one that jumps out at me.
Regarding what else Poilievre stands for beyond tax cuts for the rich I can hardly think of anything constructive…
Fire the central banker
Axe the tax
Promote crypto
Defund the CBC
Promote an ineffective housing plan
Override the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Restrict MAID
Scrap dental and pharma care
Like is there anything constructive in the wings?
Oh come on. Promoting crypto was at the time he said it a going thing. Promoting crypto is not part of his plan going forward...that he understands what it is is a plus for me as I certainly don't. As for the rest of your list...pfft
He isn’t standing for tax cuts for the rich. Just because Trudeau says it’s so does not make it so. I would hope that the public would have realized this by now.
The rich have never been as rich as with this current government.
Okay I thought of one though I’m not sure how explicit he’s been about it. It sounds like he will do a more convincing job of correcting the over-influx of newcomers and, like correcting excessive inflation, that would be constructive.
He's got a point about nobody asking why Polievre is running. The most striking thing I've heard about Polievre is that he has no hobbies. Just politics. Fred de Lorey said that on one of those political panels, like it was something to admire. It really isn't.
If Liberals sound not disposed towards Polievre, maybe it has something to do with seeing him at work for the past 20-odd years. As have I, and I'm appalled to think of him as prime minister.
As far as what Trudeau said about nobody questioning his heart, or his priorities, I agree with that. That's exactly what people have said to me, that Trudeau has good intentions. And that's people who I don't expect to say good things about him. I really like what he said about knowing how someone will meet challenges as being, really, the only thing. (I haven't heard it yet, so I'm relying on the account). That is really true. Trudeau might be hated by many. But in the past few years, what I admire most is his ability to keep on keeping on. People take it for granted, but his ability to maintain equilibrium while he's being battered is really exceptional. It seems to be what some people really hate. But there you go.
Miranda I respectfully disagree on a couple of points.
I want a Prime Minister with a brain and not just heart.
We have just seen a Prime Ministers hobbies, how about one that is fully immersed in the politics of the country.
As for keeping on keeping on the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Finally you do know the road is paved with good intentions.